By Nirajan paudel.
As the snowline recedes, the high-altitude animals like snow leopards move to higher ground. Their habitat is at risk. Until a decade ago, the villages in the Langtang region of Rasuwa district would get covered with snow during the winter. Nowadays, the winters are a lot warmer as it rarely snows.
“Rain is replacing snow and we also have hailstones in the recent years,” says Phinjo Tamang of Lantang VDC-5. The Langtang VDC is a part of the Langtang region that has more than a dozen high peaks and glacial lakes.
According to Tamang, there was snowfall in the upper Himalayan belt of Langtang this winter but the locals witnessed only rains and hailstorms in the lower region. Even the snow that covered the highland was washed away by rains.
“Our lives are changing just as the loss of snow cover on the Himalayas,” says Wangnima Tamang of the same VDC. “Tourism is our livelihood as the tourists come here to see the magnificent snow-capped mountains. If Himalayas lose snow, why would tourists come? It will affect our livelihood.”
Agriculture is another area which is severely affected by climate change. As the villages warm up, some animals that never used to be seen before have appeared. These animals damage crops such as potatoes, buckwheat and millets.
“We are now searching for an alternative to agriculture,” says Subba lama. “We are unable to sustain our lives with agriculture.” What the villagers of Langtang are experiencing in recent years could perhaps be the consequences of the carbon emitted by the developed countries.
The impact of climate increases the occurrence of avalanches. Last spring, three people were killed by an avalanche in the Langtang region. “It looks like just a little heap of snow is collapsing. But when it gets close to you, it looks like a huge avalanche,” says Kngerup Tamang, who survived an avalanche last year. “Avalanches have made our lives more risky.”
The Himalayan range is more vulnerable to climate change. As the snowline recedes, the high-altitude animals like snow leopards move to higher ground. Their habitat is at risk and they are now constantly moving from one place to another in search of food and shelter.
The wild boars that usually live in lowlands have moved to high ground of more than 3,500 meters. These boars damage crops, thus leading to the human-wildlife conflict. In the Langtang region, many have already stopped cultivating their lands because they think their crops will be damaged by wild animals like boars.
The temperature records in Nepal indicate an annual increase of 0.06 degree Celsius. Nepal is not a carbon polluter but is experiencing the impacts of carbon emission more than the carbon polluting country. Nepal contributes only 0.025 to the global carbon emission.
Climate change not only initiates human migration but also forces animals to move. In the Himalayan region, wild animals are found to be moving higher to adapt to the changing weather. According to the Langtang National Park (LNP) officials, the wild animals like red panda, hare, boar and butterfly are moving to higher ground because of the warming up of their habitats.
Climate change is also impacting the high-altitude plants. According to Langtang National park office, a research conducted by them showed that at least 20 types of plants have been affected by climate change along the Gosaikunda trail in the Langtang region. “These plants are no longer found in areas they used to grow earlier. They are now growing in higher areas.”
Photo: Amish Regmi
